# When do you believe these cartoons jumped the shark?



## Ether's Bane

Futurama
The Simpsons
Spongebob Squarepants
The Powerpuff Girls
The Fairly OddParents
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Adventure Time
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Regular Show

(If you don't believe that one or more of these ever jumped the shark, feel free to say so. If you've never watched one or more of these, you can omit them.)

In my opinion:

Futurama - S3
The Simpsons - S6
Spongebob Squarepants - S5
The Powerpuff Girls - S4
The Fairly OddParents - S4
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends - S4
Avatar: The Last Airbender - S3
Adventure Time - S5 (I didn't like the first two seasons much, though)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - S4
Regular Show - S3


----------



## kyeugh

Spongebob, Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Powerpuff Girls never jumped the shark, what're you talking about.  >:-I  Also, Avatar was telling a story, so really I don't see what you're looking for in that show other than the plot.  Sure it was funny at times, but the plot was the main concern, and that never went away.

I can't speak for the rest, I haven't watched them and, now that you've suggested that they aren't that great, probably won't.


----------



## Ether's Bane

Qvalador said:


> I can't speak for the rest, I haven't watched them and, now that you've suggested that they aren't that great, probably won't.


Wait, what?

What I meant was that these _were_ good, but they became worse, hence my calling them out as having jumped the shark.


----------



## kyeugh

Oh, I see.  Well, in any case, it would require me to go back and watch earlier seasons (probably from YouTube or something?) which isn't really something I'm in the position to do at the moment.

The majority of the cartoons you listed still have decent content; it's also essential to take into account that the content of the cartoons doesn't necessarily mature with the viewers, so no matter how fairly you try to watch them, you won't get the same joy out of them as you did when you were younger and were able to appreciate the shows better.

Spongebob, for example, hasn't really gotten worse at all.  In fact, in my opinion, it's a lot better than it was in the Leaf Blower days and it'll probably be a while before they just aren't worth watching anymore.

Regular Show hasn't _really_ jumped the shark either (though the content isn't as great as it was in the past, I'll admit).  The reason for this is that it's just a downright strange cartoon.  The episodes tend to be both really creative and mildly hilarious.  While it's not as great as it seemed to be during its debut, maybe that's because I've grown used to the fantastical element in the show, and it isn't as surprising to me anymore.

I will always like Adventure Time and basically anything by Ward.  I probably can't speak for this one much, either.

But yeah.  I don't have an extremely critical eye, but I can also say that the content of the shows I mentioned have not decreased dramatically enough for me to say they've jumped the shark quite yet.  They're still enjoyable, and they definitely haven't reached the point where I sit down and watch it, and think to myself _Wow, this has really gone downhill.  Where did it go?_

Well, to me, anyway.


----------



## hopeandjoy

Avatar never jumped the shark. Last season is the best season.

The only other one on that list I'm qualified to talk about is Spongebob, and it went down hill after the movie when pretty much everyone who originally worked on the shoe left.

Then it was all flanderized characters and gross out jokes and ugh.


----------



## Murkrow

Qvalador said:


> it's also essential to take into account that the content of the cartoons doesn't necessarily mature with the viewers, so no matter how fairly you try to watch them, you won't get the same joy out of them as you did when you were younger and were able to appreciate the shows better.


I don't that line of reasoning. Why is that the case? What if we didn't watch these shows as a child, then surely we _can_ compare?



> Spongebob, for example, hasn't really gotten worse at all.  In fact, in my opinion, it's a lot better than it was in the Leaf Blower days and it'll probably be a while before they just aren't worth watching anymore.


Now I did watch Spongebob as a child but I definitely think it's gotten worse. I think it started to decline sometime before the movie. 

What do you mean by "leaf blower days" - do you mean the second ever episode that was entirely silent that they only ever did once? It's common for shows to not quite have their footing very early on, I think Spongebob matured quite quickly, actually.


One of the problems I have with newer Spongebob episodes is also a problem with a lot of newer Simpsons episodes, too. The jokes can go on too long. I don't necessarily mean too long in minutes. I might mean a few seconds too long. They fail really badly at their timing, and it's one of the bigger problems because since if I don't find a joke funny I can just not laugh at it, but I can't get over that and wait for the next joke if I'm sat there being aware that I'm not laughing.

The Simpsons started going bad about season 8, and became unwatchable around season 11.


As for MLP. I still haven't watched season 4. (I've noticed you bring up its jumping the shark quite often though :P) I didn't much like season 3 though. The songs were mostly lacklustre and the episodes weren't very memorable either.

Futurama I'm not sure. I haven't seen most of the newer episodes since I have no idea where/when I can see them but I didn't much like the first season after it got un-cancelled at all. Or the feature length movies/episodes that came before it, either.

The rest of them I didn't watch, or didn't watch enough to notice.

To add to the list, Family Guy didn't quickly go bad, it just changed. I liked it for its lolrandomness but it slowly changed to try to be more edgy instead. I think I enjoy episodes up to season 3 I think.


----------



## Karousever

Well I will only talk about ones that I have seen enough of, so this will be short.

For Spongebob, I definitely agree that it jumped the shark at some point...just when, is what I'm not sure. I wasn't really paying attention, I just remember watching an episode and thinking, "Wow, this is terrible and really, really stupid." and then an older episode came on and I thought, "AND THAT'S GREAT! Why isn't the show like THAT anymore?" and that's sort of when I realized I didn't like any of the new stuff.

Fairly Oddparents, to me is when they introduced the dog. Introducing Poof wasn't too much for me, it was a bit different but it was a difference I could cope with. But as soon as that darn dog showed up I couldn't watch it anymore. But I think even before the dog my opinion of newer episodes was becoming worse and worse. So maybe a bit before the dog.

Avatar, PFFFT never. Avatar was amazing all the way through. 

And I haven't seen any of season 4 of MLP. So. I don't know my opinion on that, yet.

I can't really give opinions on the other shows, either because I don't watch them at all, I don't watch them enough, or I just don't like them in the first place. 

But I do think your list should be expanded, like if anyone just happens to think of a show they feel jumped the shark, I'd gladly throw in my opinions as well as long as I'm able.


----------



## kyeugh

Oh, I didn't notice Fairly Odd Parents was up there.

That show jumped the shark pretty quickly.  It's way too repetitive for it to be very exciting beyond probably ten episodes or so.


----------



## Momo(th)

Avatar jumped jaws? Since when?

The only time I really didn't like it was the ending, and even then it didn't ruin it for me.


----------



## Kung Fu Ferret

You'll probably hate me for saying this but... 

Pokemon.... It's so repetitive now...


----------



## Autumn

spongebob : after the movie
mlp : didn't and i'm kind of sick of op positing that ~IT DEFINITELY JUMPED THE SHARK YOU'RE ALL WRONG~ every three and a half minutes

everything else : stopped watching before it went downhill or never watched


----------



## Ether's Bane

Murkrow said:


> (I've noticed you bring up its jumping the shark quite often though :P)





Altissimo said:


> mlp : didn't and i'm kind of sick of op positing that ~IT DEFINITELY JUMPED THE SHARK YOU'RE ALL WRONG~ every three and a half minutes
> 
> everything else : stopped watching before it went downhill or never watched


Okay, I'll shut up now. Sorry.


----------



## shy ♡

Please reread the jumping the shark trope. It doesn't mean 'it got gradually worse'. Or even it got more-than-gradually-actually-worse. It means it seriously literally _jumped the shark out of fucking no where_.

Big pet peeve of mine is when people decide shows suddenly jumped the shark because of whatever reason, usually the person just subjectively doesn't like it anymore because, let's be honest, unless you're going by the actual trope you're not giving an objective reason. 

Probably none of those shows jumped the shark. Did they get worse? Most likely. Most shows get worse over time, you can only write for so long before material and quality deteriorates. But if there was a jump the shark moment, I doubt there'd be any argument over when it was. Because someone would have done something the equivalent of jumping over an actual fucking shark.


----------



## Karousever

Okay, then I guess we'll just have to call this thread "When Do You Believe These Shows Started Their Gradual Decline Into Suckiness?" or something of that nature :P


----------



## shy ♡

Then the answer'd be episode 2 for all shows.


----------



## Vipera Magnifica

pathos said:


> Then the answer'd be episode 2 for all shows.


Except for the ones that didn't (See: Avatar)


----------



## Butterfree

I would have said the third season finale of MLP:FiM jumped the shark by suddenly making Twilight Sparkle into an alicorn princess while her friends turn into cheerleaders for how amazing and special she is, but actually so far (that I've seen, I'm a bit behind) season four is pretty much exactly like the previous seasons except Twilight is drawn with wings, so it's basically quietly rewound the jump.

Don't think any of the others (that I've seen) ever jumped the shark; there may be a vague tendency for later episodes to be worse, but there's no moment of "nope, this is done being good now". Although if you count Avatar as a _whole_, it definitely jumped the shark when it became Korra and started trying heartbreakingly ineptly to be aimed at older audiences.


----------



## Murkrow

pathos said:


> Then the answer'd be episode 2 for all shows.


A lot of shows start off weak because they haven't got "into" it yet, though.
The episode of Spongebob Qvalador mentions as being a bad one before it got good _is_ episode 2.



What I dislike most about shows that jump the shark gradually get worse as time goes on is that if they go on long enough, I stop watching it altogether, because there are so many bad episodes out there that it's much more likely that one of them is going to be a bad one instead of a good one. It's not worth checking any more.
Maybe it's a plot to get us to buy DVDs of the good seasons.


----------



## Awos

SpongeBob became pretty bad in the post-movie seasons. Futurama never really became bad IMO but it did kind of lose its luster during the revival, and I'm glad it ended while it was still relatively decent. Haven't watched MLP S4 so I can't really say much on there thu I did like S3.


----------



## Scootaloo

The only ones I can for sure talk about are Spongebob and MLP; Spongebob was _golden_ during Seasons 1-3 and some of 4, but quickly declined in episode quality afterward, now relying on cheap one liners and the like, even becoming more and more controversial due to episodes like Are You Happy Now? and One Coarse Meal, showing Squidward and Plankton, respectively, attempting suicide. I'll happily watch episodes like The Paper and Just One Bite, though, but I'll refuse to watch the newest episodes.

My Little Pony, to me, jumped the shark in Season 3. Like everyone else, I believe the show really took an unnecessary turn with Twilight becoming a princess/alicorn. The episodes and songs as well have decreased in quality too, lacking the initial charm the first two seasons had. (Even though I didn't care all that much for the Royal Wedding, it at least had very good songs and felt like a season finale)


----------



## Mewmic

I don't really think Foster's ever jumped the shark, although that's probably just the nostalgia talking. Although there were a few episodes I thought were pretty bad. -coughBendycough-

Spongebob for me got a lot worse after the movie definitely.


----------



## Zhorken

Yeah, I never watched _Foster's_ as a kid — I binged through it about two and a half years ago — and I still thought it it was great all the way through.  Each season had a couple bad episodes, and it did get a little tedious in season four, but then it picked back up and the last two seasons were actually my favourite.


----------



## Ether's Bane

Another question for the floor - which of these do you think jumped the shark to the greatest extent?

In my opinion:

Gold: Spongebob
Silver: The Simpsons
Bronze: MLP


----------



## hopeandjoy

Spongebob, then The Fairy Odd Parents, and then The Simpsons.


----------



## Murkrow

The Simpsons was the worst. Mainly because it's gone on SO LONG.

Spongebob may be bad but at least I can see how kids might find it funny. Not that "It's for children" is an excuse, mind you (My mum says that all the time when I complain about Doctor Who being terrible these days), it's just that Spongebob isn't funny and the not funnyness goes on so long that you're aware of it. It can still be funny occasionally and the episodes are only 15 minutes long so it's doesn't matter.
The Simpsons is pretty much consistently not funny throughout the 30 minutes it's on.

So
1) The Simpsons
2) Spongebob

Don't really have an opinion on the rest.


----------



## Ether's Bane

By the way, I made my picks like this: with shows like The Powerpuff Girls and Futurama, although they jumped the shark, it at least felt as if those behind the show were trying to put out a quality product (although they were failing). The vibe I get from the three shows I picked is that the people behind the show have stopped trying altogether and just chose to cobble together "whatever feels right".


----------



## LadyJirachu

I don't even know what jumped the shark means XD It means when they got bad, right?

I don't keep track of episode numbers much, but the simpsons does seem a lot less funny to me now. Then again, i'm also more sensitive to how 'dark' it can be now, too, so maybe thats part of why...

But, no, it does seem to be less comical overall. Regardless of that. I mean...whats so funny about the simpsons living in antartica and not freezing? o.o; It seems more like a lame excuse to be funny without really being it.

MLP is still good in my opinion and i still try to see every episode XD

Also, I guess the later episodes of ppg seemed less awesome than the earlier ones. Same with spongebob. Though this one episode about wrestling thats pretty new according to a cartoon site i went to was actually pretty amusing.


----------

